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Maybe marriage vows in the wiziarding world works more along the lines of an unbreakable vow. Maybe that's why we see more couples sticking through things like the Malfoys or why some marriages end under mysterious circumstances like Blaise Zabini's mother.

It could be that some of the dark wiziarding families use this ploy in order to secure their pureblood ties (or in Zabini mother's case, her wealth). Which is why we see some being forced to marry their cousins.

But other wiziarding families, like the Weasley's, would not stoop to such levels cause they feel that true love would concur all.

So you're saying that it's not an officially sanctioned method of matrimony? Then where would they be going to get their vows performed, and what prevents the ones like the Weasleys from getting divorced?

So you're saying that it's not an officially sanctioned method of matrimony? Then where would they be going to get their vows performed, and what prevents the ones like the Weasleys from getting divorced?

It would be a sanctioned matrimony, but instead of traditional wedding vows, they would use an unbreakable vow to seal the union. Maybe a minister close to the family would perform it in a smiliar way that Bellatrix bound Snape to his unbreakable vow to Narcissia in HBP.

And as I stated before, this would be something that some of the darker wiziarding families would use to secure their pureblood ties. This may be the reason why we see some members of the Blacks marrying within their family or why Blaise's mother's husbands die a mysterious death.

Other families, like the Weasleys, would not use such a ploy in their vows cause they believe in true love and how true love conquers all.

And since it's true love, you don't hear much about divorces in their family. But on the flip side, you don't hear about divorces coming from the Blacks either if they were using the unbreakable vows to bind the marriages within the family

They would have just left or walk out. Maybe marriages in the wiziarding world works in the way like that old magic that bonded Harry to Privet drive.

DH's Chapter 4: THE SEVEN POTTERS

"Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or" - Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen- "you no longer call this place home."

Hagrid's mother just left him and her husband behind. But he had said that she wasn't the nurturing type. So she couldn't have been a very loving wife. So she left.

There may be some kind of charm that is used in a wiziarding wedding ceremony (not like an unbreakable vow). In instances where the love is no longer present in the marriage, or someone doesn't want to be married anymore, then the charm breaks and the two are free to separate from the union.

So instead of a Muggle-like divorce, a person just leaves cause the charm is not present in the marriage to hold them together (since there is no mutual love in the marriage).

So instead of a Muggle-like divorce, a person just leaves cause the charm is not present in the marriage to hold them together (since there is no mutual love in the marriage).

Sounds plausible enough, but what about things like deviding common assets etc? Child custody? Just because you're unhappy in a marriage doesn't mean that you'd leave your entire life behind. If two people are fighting all the time and can't agree about anything, it wouldn't be as simple as just walking out anyway.

Sounds plausible enough, but what about things like deviding common assets etc? Child custody? Just because you're unhappy in a marriage doesn't mean that you'd leave your entire life behind. If two people are fighting all the time and can't agree about anything, it wouldn't be as simple as just walking out anyway.

Then the law would apply in cases where there's no abandonment in the marriage. They do have a legal system in place, so in cases where the families assets needed to be divided or custody needs to be agreed upon, then some sort of family law would step in to hear these matters.

There maybe some assets that couldn't be separated due to some family ties. For example: Kreecher couldn't be passed on to anyone since he was bound to the House of Black. Sirius was the last Black descendant, so when he died all the family possession (including Kreecher) were passed down to Harry, Sirius' sole heir in his will.

So in those cases, when it comes to certain family heirlooms, those would be given back to the possessor who has the closets family ties to it. At least that's my theory.

We do have one canon example of a divorce in the Thomas family. Dean said his father walked out on his mother when he was very young. While Dean doesn't know he was a wizard, we do. Though since his wife was a muggle I would suspect it was all done through Muggle means.

Actually, Dean and his mother believe that his father left them, but I was under the impression from an interview JKR gave that Dean's father had not actually walked out on his family, that he was murdered by Death Eaters, and that it was removed as unnecessary back-story from CoS, since she decided to focus more on Neville's background in future books - seeing it as more relevant to the plot. Given that, Dean's father 'walking out' on his family is not a good example of a wizarding divorce.

Bonded for life, was, I believe the term used in DH for Bill and Fleur's wedding ceremony, and while it may be just a flowery bit of language, like 'Until death do us part', the simple fact is that the community as a whole takes vows much more seriously than the Muggle world we know. While one might vow to love, honor and cherish one's husband, seeking no others as long as you both shall live, one may not follow through with that, in the same way that a friend might ask one to promise to help them do something but one back out.

I think that the traditional marriage ceremony that we witnessed in DH is more of a 'Vow' in the Wizarding sense of the word, as opposed to the Muggle terminology, and that 'bonded for life' means that as long as either of you lives, you will not be able to remarry. It doesn't mean you have to live together, but in the eyes of the Ministry, you are bonded for life - which, as mrsmcclnt said, could be the reason for Blaise Zabini's mother's multiple husbands and Narcissa and Bellatrix sticking out their marriages. I think DH proved to us that neither of them were in very fulfilling marriages, and though family tradition may have dictated they remain in their unions, I think the additional bonding of the ceremony helped a bit.

Anybody who has read both the American and British versions of 'Philosopher's Stone' will notice that Dean Thomas's appearance is not mentioned in the British book, whereas in the American one there is a line describing him (in the chapter 'The Sorting Hat').

This was an editorial cut in the British version; my editor thought that chapter was too long and pruned everything that he thought was surplus to requirements. When it came to the casting on the film version of 'Philosopher's Stone', however, I told the director, Chris, that Dean was a black Londoner. In fact, I think Chris was slightly taken aback by the amount of information I had on this peripheral character. I had a lot of background on Dean, though I had never found the right place to use it. His story was included in an early draft of 'Chamber of Secrets' but then cut by me, because it felt like an unnecessary digression. Now I don't think his history will ever make it into the books.

Dean is from what he always thought was a pure Muggle background. He has been raised by his mother and his stepfather; his father walked out on the family when Dean was very young. He has a very happy home life, with a number of half-brothers and sisters.

Naturally when the letter came from Hogwarts Dean's mother wondered whether his father might have been a wizard, but nobody has ever discovered the truth: that Dean's father, who had never told his wife what he was because he wanted to protect her, got himself killed by Death Eaters when he refused to join them. The projected story had Dean discovering all this during his school career. I suppose in some ways I sacrificed Dean's voyage of discovery for Neville's, which is more important to the central plot.

I think its probably safe to say that Dean's biological parents weren't married in a Wizarding ceremony; however, assuming that there's "no" way to divorce in the Wizarding world, it's entirely possible that if he were a pureblood, Dean's father wouldn't think of getting a divorce.

Or he could have known he was being pursued, and fled as fast as he could to keep them away from any sort of attention. The Death Eaters probably didn't realise he'd married a Muggle or they wouldn't be soliciting him so aggressively.

Thank you, cm, I knew that the information was out there. I interpreted it as Dean's father having been murdered and, given that his wife never knew he was a wizard, she and her son assumed he'd walked out, but re-reading that, I'm inclined to wonder now.

There may be some kind of charm that is used in a wiziarding wedding ceremony (not like an unbreakable vow). In instances where the love is no longer present in the marriage, or someone doesn't want to be married anymore, then the charm breaks and the two are free to separate from the union.

So instead of a Muggle-like divorce, a person just leaves cause the charm is not present in the marriage to hold them together (since there is no mutual love in the marriage).

That doesn't leave much room for arranged marriages, and those I can see happening, especially where pure-bloods are concerned.